No need to go ‘back, back, back’
Hey, bunter bunter! The Korea Baseball Organization staged a Bunt Derby as part of its all-star festivities, with participants trying to bunt the ball into targetlike circles down the baselines. Doosan’s Heo Kyung-min, in case you’re wondering, is the KBO’s answer to Giancarlo Stanton.
CHIN MUSIC
The minor league Bowie (Md.) Baysox will wear special David Bowie-themed jerseys during Friday night’s game as part of a tribute night to the late rocker. Brace yourselves for lots of pitching ch-ch-ch-changes.
INJURY OF WEEK
Rangers reliever Jake Diekman landed on the DL with a cut finger — courtesy of a souvenir “Cheers” mug he picked up in Boston that broke in his suitcase.
CAUGHT STEALING
Christopher Correa, the St. Louis Cardinals’ former scouting director, was sentenced to 46 months in prison for breaking into the Houston Astros’ computer system to get at its player-personnel database. No hard feelings? Rumour has it that the Cards’ next game in Houston will be Hack Wilson Jersey Night.
NO FAKING THIS
USADA says rassler and MMA fighter Brock Lesnar might have violated the UFC’s antidoping policy. Translation: They found a foreign object in his urine sample.
PLAN TO PARK IT
The federal government is investigating allegations that Fiat Chrysler inflated its sales figures. Even worse for Fiat: The probe is being headed up by Roger Goodell.
TALKING THE TALK
Eric Edholm of Yahoo.com, after House speaker Paul Ryan inexplicably waved a Steelers terrible towel at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland: “Coming out in a Johnny Manziel jersey might have been the only worse option.”
Baylor football coach Jim Grobe, at Big 12 media days, on the scandal-ridden program he inherited: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — strictly from a football perspective.”
SportsPickle.com headline: “District attorney clears Alabama football players of all future charges.”
Jim Barach of WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va., on Omaha, Neb., landing the U.S. Olympic curling trials in 2017: “Officials say the event could pump as much as another $327 into the local economy.”
BATHROOM RINGS
It’s four years early, but toilet manufacturer TOTO has already been proclaimed the official bathroom-fixture provider for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Guess it’s not easy keeping a lid on news like that.